Untamed

Chapter 2

(ELAINE)

"Strike me down!" I prayed looking up to the ceiling. But unfortunately I was almost positive a bolt of lightning wouldn't hit me where I stood. This man made me want to punch something. He made me want to punch something and punch it hard. I felt my fist coil into a fist as though it had a mind of its own.

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs in anger. Instead I stomped out of the house and across the yard in a rather childish fashion.

Men!

They thought they owned everything. This man thought he could just march in and claim a bride. He could line up the women of the village and point his finger and say 'that one, that's the one I want'. That was exactly what he had done. In an instant my life had been turned completely around. I stopped at the hollowed out log to pick up my bow and arrows. I had stashed them there earlier when I saw the man and his men come to my house. I slid the quiver full of arrows over my right shoulder and held tightly to the bow. My hands were shaking with anger as I took off into the cover of the trees.

Maybe if I shot something I would feel better. The only thing I could think of that I wanted to shoot was a large man with dark brown hair. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Thinking of his blue eyes and dark curly brown hair wouldn't help me concentrate.

Why hadn't I taken the opportunity earlier to end him? He was right there on my lands and in my sight but instead of killing him right then and there I fired a warning shot. That was my mistake and I wouldn't make it again should the opportunity arise. With every ounce of my soul I hoped that the opportunity to end him would return. He wouldn't be such a big man then. He would be vulnerable and then he would be gone.

I sighed in defeat. No matter how much I wanted it to fix my problems, violence wouldn't solve anything. Maybe I could run away. Far away. If I started now I could probably make it into another territory. From there I would chop off my hair and dress like a man. I was ugly enough to pass for a man surely I could get away with it. I kicked at a small pinecone that had the audacity to place itself right in my path.

"Elaine!" a shrill shriek interrupted my thoughts. It was mother. No doubt looking for me. She would be angry about my behavior. I could already hear the lecture in my mind. There had been so many in the past that I wasn't afraid anymore.

I had no intention of going back. Instead I took off running to my favorite spot. A tall tree with large branches and a thick cover of leaves. It had been my refuge for many years. I scurried up the trunk in an instant and continued up the familiar branches. The tree seemed to wrap around me and hide me from intruders as I climbed higher. Once I was up high enough that I would be out of sight the tears hit. I didn't want to cry but I couldn't help it. Marrying a total stranger was terrifying. Traveling to a new land was also terrifying. We would go to his home then I would become a trapped possession. A possession to create heirs with. I shuddered at the thought of children. My children. Our children.

Once I thought of children my mind was full of the patter of feet and loud giggles. I would of course be miserable tied to them and that man for the rest of my life. I shook my head to clear it before I started to envision what they would look like.

There was a grunting noise underneath me and my mother's face came into view. She heaved herself up into the branches her red face confirming the difficult climb. She sat for a second to catch her breath as I tried to decide how I would climb down out of the tree without her grabbing me. She would do it too. While she was getting older, she was just as strong as she had ever been as a young girl.

"Elaine. Really you've got to come down from here and stop acting like a child."

"But I am a child." I whispered feeling very much like a five year old. I didn't feel like an adult. Nineteen wasn't that old to be making a decision that would alter my life forever. I wasn't even the one who would be making that decision. It would be made for me.